Washing-machine.



G. H NEYHCK.

wAsHsNG MAGHiNE.

APPLICATION FlLED AUG.4,19!3. v

' Patented Jam. Qa, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

G. H. MYRICK. WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.4| 1913. L15@c@@ Patented Jan. 2u, i916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

; ymwwwwlmmww GEORGE H. MYR/IGK, OF CHICAGO, ILLNOIS, ASSIGN'OR TOCAPITAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0FILLINOS.

WASHNG-MACHNE.

Application led August 4, 1913.

To all ulromgit may concern Be it known that'l, GEORGE H. MYmC/n, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefullmprovement in 1ivtlashing-Machines, of which the following is a full,clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved form of washing machine in which thearticles to be washed are moved in the solution by means of which theyare washed by the projection into and through said articles of a streamof the solution; and in the pre` ferred embodiment of my invention Iprovide a rotary cylinder for containing the articles "to be washed,such as clothing, against which the stream of solution, as water andsoap, is projected tangentially or nearly so, by means of a fan or screwpropeller. This fan is preferably electricallydriven, and the motor thusemployed may be used to also drive a wringer, if desired. The cylinderemployed to contain the clothing to be washed is of openworkconstruction so that the. water and ysoap solution projected against theside of the cylinder not only imparts to it a rotary motion, but thesolution is also projected through the walls of the cylinder and intoand throughthe clothing. thus agitating the same and greatly assistingin the separation from the clothing of the dirt contained in it.

The several drawings illustrating my invention are as follows.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view taken transversely of thehorizontal axis of the cylinder of the machine, and shows all of theparts in assembled relation; Fig. 2 is a vertical 'sectional view takenlongitudinally through the axis of the cylinder 'along the line :Z-Q-ofFig. 1; Fig. 3 shows, in end view, a modified construction of themachine in which the motor, instead of being disposed beneath the tankof the machine, is placed upon the top thereof in a lposition to drive awringer, if desired; Fig. t shows, in top view, another modifiedconstruction of my improved washing machine, in which the cylinder forreceiving` the clothes to be washed issupported to rotate upon avertical axis, and Fig. 5 is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 4.

Specification of Letters Patent.

iPaterrted Jan. 25, 1916.

Serial No. 782,785.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the washing machine consists of a tank 1having a hinged cover 2 and provided at its ends with bearings 3 and Lfor the journals and G of the cylinder T. rlChe cylinder 7 is preferablycomposed of a metal framework consisting of a plurality o'f arms 8 andend rings 9 and 10, over and to which wire netting is secured of smallenough mesh to prevent the smallest articles to be washed passingthrough it, and of large enough mesh to permit water to freely pass intoand out from the cylinder. The cylinder is provided with a hinged door11 secured in place by a suitable catch 12 so that the clothing may beintroduced into the cylinder and taken therefrom when desired. rl`hebottom of the tank 1, at the left-hand side, as indicated in Figs. 1 and2, is rounded so as to coliform somewhat to the shape of the outersurface of the cylinder 7, and at the right-hand side the bottom of thetank is separated from the cylinder to receive the tubular housing 13which contains horizontally-disposed fan or screw propeller 14 securedto the upper end of a vertical shaft 15 extending downward through astutling box 1G in the bottom of the housing 13 and driven by means of amotor 17 secured to a bracket 18 extending downward from the bottom ofthe tank 1. The tank and parts carried thereby are supported in anydesired position by means of legs 19 and 20.

The tank 1 is provided at its upper righthand portion with a shield ordeflector 21, by means of which the soap-andwater solution is directedfrom the fan 14: over the top of the cylinder and down upon theleft-hand side thereof.

As a result of the construction described, when the clothing to bewashed has been placed in the cylinder 7 and the :soap-and watersolution has been placed in the tank 1 to't-he proper depth, preferablyto the top of the cylinder, the motor 17 is started and as it has adirection of motion such as to rotate the fan 14 to project the watercontained in the housing 13 upwardly, this projects the soap-and-watersolution upward against the right-hand side of the cylinder 7, with theresult that the cylinder is rotated by the impact of the solutionagainst the same. The wire netting of the cylinder permits a largepartof the Water to project into and through the clothing to be washed,with the result that the clothing is manipulated mechanically by thewater thus projected, which becomes thus an effective factor in washingthe clothes.

The rotation of the cylinder 7 and the stream of water from the fan letmove the clothing in the cylinder toward the upper part thereof and overto the other side. The water and soap solution in considerable pai't isprojected vertically and strikes the de flector 21 and is turned so asto pass over the cylinder to the left and thus downward upon the lefthand side of the cylinder, returning along the bottom of' the tank 1 tothe outside of the housing 13 which it enters through the openings 2:2provided therefor, so that it may again be engaged by the fan. Theremainder of the solution, or that which entered the cylinder as it 'asproJected from fan 1i, is drawn out of the cylinder at the left handside thereof and toward the openings 22 through which fluid is suppliedto the fan 1+. Thus, when Vtheclothes are brought around by the cylinder`into the stream of water formed by the fan lil, a portion ot' the wateris driven through the lihers of the clothing and thus dislodges the dirtcontained therein. lihen the clothingT is carried around to theleft-hand side of the cylinder, the water is again drawn through hefibers of the cloth in order to leave the cylinder and travel to thebottom ot' the tank to enter the openings There are thusI thi'e actionstending to wash the clothes. First the water driven through the clotningas the saine is brought in front of the fan. Second, the water is againdrawn through the clothing at the left-hand thereof and toward the fan1l. Third, there is also a general rotation and agitation of the waterwhich aidsl materially in the washing of the clothes. ThusI a constantcirculation is established inside of the tank 1 which etlectuallyrotates the cylinder '7 and at the saine time washes the clothes.

ln the modified construction shown in Fig. il, the disposition of thefan 14 in the tank l is .substantially the same as that shown anddescribed in Fig. 1. the dillerence being that the fan is secured to thelower end of a Ishalt l5" extending upwardly in a slightly obliquedirection through the top of the ta nk, where it has secured to itsupper end one member 2? of a jaw clutch.y the other iiicniher 2l olwhich is mounted to slide upon the lower end of the shaft ofthe motori7". An operating handle 25 controlling a lever 2t is provided to throwthe upper ii'ieinbcr 24 ol' the jaw clutch` into engagement with thelower member or not, as (esiiial. The upper ciid of the shaft ot' hemotor 1T has siniilarl)7 secured to it in sliding relation. the lowerineniber-Ziol a Y. ,-;ei:oiid jaw clutch, the upper member 28 of whichis secured to a pulley 29, from which a belt BO extends to a pulley 3lsecured to the driving shaft of a wringer 32 mounted upon the tank -l.Thus, by means of the jaw clutches described, either the wringer or thefan may be operated as desired, or, if preferred, both may be operatedtogether by means of the motor 17. The operation of' the fan l1 in thismodified construction is substantially the same in. rotating thecylinder 7 and washing the clothes as al"- readv described in connectionwith the construction shown in Figs. l and 2.

In the modified construction shown in Figs. 4 -and 5, the cylinder 7b issimilar to the cylinders T and 7 above-referred to, with the exceptionthat the door 11 for permitting access to the cylinder is secured to theupper end of the cylinder instead of to its cylindrical side. Thecylinder 7b is mounted in bearings formed in the top and bottom of thetank1, which tank is substantially the same as the tank 1 shown in F ig.l turned upon one end, the only difference being that for theconstruction shown in Fig. 5 the sides are continuous and the door Qprovided for giving access vto the cylinder is hinged to the top of thetank in the construction shown in Fig. 5. which is equal to the end oflthe construction shown in Fig. l.

For the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the motor 17" is mountedupon a bracket 1S" disposed at one side of the tank 1b and substantiallyhalf way between the top and bottom of the tank. The motor has securedto it a fan working in a housing in a manner similar to that shown anddescribed 't'or the fan 14 above, and the .soapand-water solution isacted upon by the fan in substantially the same manner described above,with the exception that in thev present case the water circulates inhorizontal planes instead of inverted planes as is the case in theconstructions shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. No special detiector isrequired in connection with this modified construction. since the side'alls of the tank. being contii'iuous and without break, may be readilyconformed to direct the solution without auxiliary means.

lVhile I have referred to an electric motor f as the preferred foi-m foroperating my machine, it will be understood that it is not essential.that this type of motor mechanism he used, as any motor mechanism may beemployed that may he desirable, the only requirement being that the fansecured to the shaft shall iii each case be driven by suitable iiictormechanism, either directly or indirectly, so that the solution in thetank shall be given su'llicieiit velocity to rotate the cylindi and washthe clothing. Furthermore, it 'ill, be understood that ani,r desiredmechanism may be employed for driving the 'incenso Wringer from themotor, and if desired for reversing'the direction of the rotation ofthewringer, and that do not limit myself to the precise constructionindicated.

ln carrying out my invention, I do not limit myself to any preciserelation of parts between the tank, the cylinder and the fan, but, onthe other hand, l may employ many dilterent relations and conformationsof these parts, the only requirement being' that the solution shall beprojected by the fan against the cylinder with such velocity that itshall properly rotate the cylinder and serve by its mechanical action toat least in part .vash lthe clothing.

lVhat I claim is:

l. A machine for Washingr fabrics comprising in combination an openworkcylindrical fabric container, a propeller disposed on one side of theaxis of the fabric container, a deliectordisposed on the side of thecontainer axis opposite the propeller,a tank inclosing and supporting`the fabric con tainer, propeller and detiector, said tank lraving itsWal-ls lying immediately adjacent to the ends and cylindrical surface ofthe fabriccontainer and adapted to contain washing solution to a depthimmer-sing the propeller, defieotor and fabric Container, said propellerrotatable about an ,axis substantial] 1 normal to tlvl axis of thefrabric .l

container and adapted when operated to pro]ect a continuous stream ofWashing, solution through the fabrlic container and against the same tocause rotation thereof,

and means for rotating said propeller.

2. A machine for Washingfabrics coniprisingi` in combination anopenvvork cylindrical 4fabric container, a propeller disposed.

on one side of the fabric container, a tank inclosinp; and supportingthe fabric container and propeller, said tank havingr its Walls lyingimmediately adjacent to the cylindrical surface of the fabric containerand adapted to contain washing' solution to a depth immer-sing thepropeller and fabric container, said propeller rotatable about an axissubstantially normal to the axis of the fabric container and adaptedwhen operated to project a continuous stream of washing.; solutiontoward and through the fabric container, and means for rotating saidpropeller.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of an ope'nworkcylindrical container mounted upon a substantially horizontal axis, atank inclosing and supporting the cylindrical container, said tankhaving its walls lying inmiediately adjae. itto the cylindrial surfaceof the container and adapted to contain washing,` solution, a propellerdisposed in the bottom of the tank rotatable around an axissubstantially at right angles `to the axis of the cylindrical containerand arranged when operated `project a continuous stream of wishingqsolution against and through the cylindrical container, and a detlectorsupported by the tank at the top thereof, said detlector disposed adjacent to the cylindrical surface of the container and in a line withthe axis of the aforesaid propeller.

ln Witness -whereof, i hereunto subscribe my name this 23rd day of July,A.. D.. 1913.

EGRGE H. Miri-UCK.

Witnesses ALBERT C. BELL, "lf-inem C. Annemie.

